Casting off Adult Appropriateness for Childlike impulses

As children, we’re taught by our parents to know our place, not to intrude or interrupt because doing so would be rude and inappropriate. But when we apply these same rules to our relationship with God, we settle for a rigid mechanical connection which barely ever touches our hearts.

I love the example of the Blind Man, Bartimaeus in Mark 10 who calls out to Jesus with an inappropriately loud voice that made the mannerly people around him uncomfortable. His manner is childishly and inappropriately persistent. His intrusion brought noise and chaos into the somewhat ordered environment where everyone else was acting like adults.

What audacity! Bartimaeus would not be impeded from approaching Christ. His faith is persistent as he cries out to God continually until he knows he has been heard. A childlike faith that is not concerned about what others think but that also knows innately that there is nowhere else to go. Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Only One who hold the words to eternal life.

So today, try to trust your unconscious, childish impulses and inspirations when it comes to your time with the Lord and allow His love to dissolve your typical rigidity. Can you find it in yourself to compete for Jesus’ attention? What holds you back from grabbing his attention?